Category: Politics

COLOMBO, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) – Security forces shot dead at least six Tamil Tiger rebels during a confrontation in Sri Lanka’s restive eastern province, officials said Thursday. The troops and a group of fighters from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) clashed near Poonani on Wednesday night and security forces recovered the bodies […]

COLOMBO, Dec 13, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief vowed to drive out Tiger guerrillas from the island’s restive east as dozens of civilians fled their shelters Wednesday amid a lull in shelling. The commander of the army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, said the military had captured two guerrilla defence lines inside their Vakarai […]

COLOMBO, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – The United Nations and Nordic truce monitors on Tuesday voiced grave concern for 35,000 “desperate civilians” caught in the crossfire between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels. The Tamil Tigers are fighting for independence for the island’s minority 2.5 million Tamil community in the majority-Sinhalese nation of 19.5 […]

COLOMBO, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sporadic shelling was reported across de facto front lines in Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast Monday after heavy artillery attacks over the weekend left scores dead. More than 3,500 people have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past year.The bitter ethnic conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives since […]

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) – Dozens of civilians wounded in weekend shelling in rebel-held areas were evacuated Monday for treatment, officials said, as the rebels placed civilian deaths at 41. Medical sources in the Vakarai hospital inside territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) said 27 dead bodies of […]

COLOMBO, Dec 10, 2006 (AFP) – Some 3,000 civilians on Sunday were fleeing as heavy artillery duels in Sri Lanka’s restive northeast killed more than 110 people, including 41 civilians, according to rebels and security forces.More than 3,500 people have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past year. The bitter ethnic conflict that has […]

Dec 9, 2006 (AFP) – Troops and Tamil Tiger rebels traded long-range artillery and mortar bombs in north-eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday, a day after a fresh Norwegian peace attempt failed, officials said. The two sides were exchanging long-range attacks in the district of Trincomalee where four soldiers and several civilians were wounded on Saturday, […]

Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace broker Norway failed on Friday to secure an agreement to end a blockade on the Jaffna peninsula where nearly half a million people are trapped by fighting, officials said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they told a Norwegian envoy to persuade the government […]

Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to bolster its air force by buying four Mig-27s from Ukraine as its battle with the Tamil Tiger rebels intensifies, a government minister said Friday. Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said Ukraine would also overhaul four identical ground attack aircraft already with the island’s airforce. The four […]

Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) – A powerful explosion blew up a pipeline supplying water to parts of the capital and immediate suburbs, police said Thursday.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast at Boralesgamuwa, just south of Colombo, late Wednesday. There were no casualties or damage to other property, police said. Water supply […]

PARIS, Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) – Western aid groups warned of a growing struggle to help Sri Lankan victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami and of the country’s war, four months after the massacre of 17 aid workers, and blamed bureaucracy for blocking their work.“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic,” said Aloysius John, head of Asia […]

COLOMBO, Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has warned that democracy must not come in the way of battling terrorism, after his government moved to revive tough laws to bolster their battle against the Tamil Tigers. In his televised address, broadcast overnight Wednesday, Mahinda Rajapakse said the Tamil Tigers were scuttling the chances […]